…and that’s how I became the unofficial music archivist of 1 Golden Square. Well, sort of…

You see, I had been taken on, in a freelance capacity, long before TIML’s acquisition, to begin the slow process of digitising the very best of the live performances of the assorted festivals or live gigs that had been recorded over the years (V-fests, Teenage Cancer Trust, Isle of Wight, etc). This was not as simple as it sounds, as many of the performances required some considerable editing. At that time, nobody had contemplated a change of name for this radio station, so I was charged with inserting VR branding all over each selection. However, I did some forward-thinking, and decided to make two versions of each performance: one with full VR branding, and another ‘raw’ version with no branding on whatsoever. The original plan was to make them available for streaming on our website, though it would take some renegotiation of rights, but that was going to be somebody else’s problem.

As soon as the guys from TIML/Absolute arrived, and began to take over the day-to-day running of the radio station, it was obvious to them (if they hadn’t known it already) that they had acquired a huge library of archive recordings. I had kept in touch with Clive during their negotiations (after all, he & I were the joint Heads of Music at Chiltern Radio back in the early 90s), and he asked me to continue with what I was doing, but to create a Master List of every piece of live music (both performance and Zoo sessions) and all interviews of note. This was going to be a mighty task, and was going to take a while…

With the guidance of the guys from Programming, we uncovered hundreds of DAT tapes, CD-Rs, and 10” tape spools – most of which were insufficiently labelled. So before anything else, a major job of cataloguing had to be undertaken…. and it was like entering into Aladdin’s cave!

I found a number of Tommy Vance’s interviews from the mid-90s, with the likes of Ian Dury, Bob Geldoff, Bonnie Raitt and ZZ Top, to name a few…. And each had the full PRS Return completed in his own hand! There were also a number of interviews recorded by Richard Skinner, Dave Fanning, Wendy Lloyd, Nicky Horne and Alan Freeman.

Some amazing DATs of Zoo sessions were uncovered, too. An early Coldplay session, a rare live recording of “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” by Ian Dury & The Blockheads, and an assortment of top line artists such as James Taylor, Elbow (from 2001), Kirsty MacColl and the Stereophonics, not to mention just loads of recordings by Paul Weller, Coldplay and many others. I have to say, it’s not just the music that makes these tapes so exciting, but the ‘studio chatter’ between tracks, too.

This exercise gave me a heck of a ‘déjà vu’ feeling, too, as I came across many of the sessions that I had personally commissioned for the Captain America show, that I used to produce. To say we were ahead of the game may sound a bit conceited, but there are sessions by Jason Mraz from 2003, John Mayer from 2004, plus some great interviewees we had welcomed like Jackson Browne, David Byrne, Don Henley and many more.

As I write, I am still deeply immersed in the project, and we keep uncovering more gems. Some will come to be aired quickly (like the early Coldplay track, that’s been played a few times lately), but others will take longer as the rights position of each one is checked and double-checked.

One thing is for certain: the vault at One Golden Square is a haven for the ‘real’ music that has always been proudly broadcast to our listeners, and we must be very proud of our heritage that has been passed onto us, as we continue to strive forward.

Back to the grindstone….!!!!